| Sharp-tailed ibis | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Threskiornithidae |
| Genus: | Cercibis Wagler, 1832 |
| Species: | C. oxycerca |
| Binomial name | |
| Cercibis oxycerca (Spix, 1825) | |
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| Current world extant distribution according to the IUCN (2012) | |
| Synonyms [2] [3] | |
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The sharp-tailed ibis (Cercibis oxycerca) is a species of ibis native to open wet savannas in parts of northern South America.
The sharp-tailed ibis is monotypic, being the only representative of the genus Cercibis. [4] Much remains unknown about this ibis's evolutionary history; [5] however, phylogenetic analyses based on skull morphology and function suggest that it is closely related to the spoonbills. [6]
This large ibis measures 75–86 cm in length, with males being slightly larger than females. [5] In adult males, the flat wing measures 390–415mm lengthways, and the culmen measures 156–168mm from the base of the bill. [4] In adult females, the wing is 376–413mm long and the culmen 144–197mm. [4]
The species is distinguished by its notably long tail, the longest among all extant ibis species; [7] measuring 250–301mm in males and 256–272mm in females. [4] The tail projects beyond the tips of the folded wings when the ibis stands; and beyond the trailing legs in flight. [5] The plumage is predominantly black with greenish glossing; [4] [5] and with purplish tinges on the upper back, hindneck, wings and tail. [4] [5] The forehead and cheek region are occasionally greyish brown. [4] Juveniles appear similar to adults, but their plumage lacks a metallic sheen. [5]
The bill, legs, toes, and bare facial skin are orangey-red; the throat is yellowish-orange, and a feathered grey strip extends below the eye from the lower mandible. An inconspicuous fuzzy crest extends down the back of its head and upper neck. The iris is greyish red, but is sometimes scarlet red, which may be associated with breeding. [5] Nothing is however known of changes in soft part colourations as part of courtship. [5] Overall, the sharp-tailed ibis is superficially similar to many sympatric ibises such as the glossy ibis [5] and the bare-faced ibis; [8] but clearly differs through its longer tail and larger body size. [5]
This ibis is particularly vocal. The call is a loud, distinct single or double cuk or turuck; [5] or kut and kut-kaaaoh. [9] These calls resemble the sound of a saxophone or toy trumpet. [9] [10] Flight calls have been transcribed as a long drawn-out tuuut, [10] as a cuk cuk cuk cuk [5] and as a loud nasal TUUR-DEE. The male is believed to utter the TUUR element, and the female utters the following DEEE in response. [8] The timbre of the TUUR-DEE call has earned it the local Spanish name Tarotaro.
The sharp-tailed ibis has a slow, laboured flight; with individuals flying low above the ground and often only covering short distances such as between neighbouring trees. [5] However, they have been observed to fly across wide-open expanses of grassland toward roosting or feeding sites. [8] Due to its noisy wing beating, it is often heard before coming into view. [8]
The sharp-tailed ibis inhabits wet lowland savannas and riverbanks of northern South America east of the Andes, at less than 300-500m above sea level. [5] It is native to Venezuela, eastern Colombia, southwestern Guyana, Brazil and Suriname. In Venezuela, it is typically found along or near the Orinoco and Apure rivers. [4] [5] In the llanos of eastern Colombia, it is found along the Casanare and Cravo Sur rivers, as well as the Colombian stretch of the Apure. [4] In Brazil, it often occurs to the northwest of the Amazon [8] and frequents the grasslands near to the Rio Negro and Rio Branco. However, it is also present to the west near Rio Guanco and to the south in northwest Mato Grosso. [4] [5] This ibis also sometimes uses gallery forests in which to roost and breed. [8] [11]
This ibis is patchily distributed throughout its global range [5] [12] and despite a relatively large total population; it is generally uncommon on a local scale [13] and is considered to be the least numerous ibis species in the Venezuelan llanos. [8] It is however more abundant there during the rainy season. [11]
It does not associate with other wading bird species, often distancing itself from its heterospecifics. [14] It is primarily found in male-female pairs and in small intraspecific groups comprising three to five individuals. [15] Despite this ibis's territoriality, individuals very rarely forage alone. [14] The two individuals of a dyad differ markedly in body size, which suggests that they constitute a paired male and female given the differences in biometrics between the sexes. [4] The groups of more than two individuals appear to comprise a paired male and female along with their juvenile offspring. [5] In observations of flocks of three, the individual assumed to be the offspring is notably smaller with less developed facial colourations. [16]
Like the sympatric glossy ibis, the sharp-tailed ibis largely feeds terrestrially or semi-terrestrially; [14] either on open land or in short grass. [17] It typically forages in moist soil, shallow mud [9] and along marshy edges of lagoons [13] and rice fields. [8] However, it also occasionally forages in shallow water at depths of 3 cm or less. [5] It is less aquatic in its feeding habits than many other South American Ibises. [14] [17] Throughout the sharp-tailed ibis's range, only the buff-necked ibis forages on drier, higher-altitude ground. [9] More rarely, the sharp-tailed ibis has been observed to forage in gallery forests during the wet season. [16]
The species primarily feeds tactilely. Its typical foraging method consists in walking quickly over moist soil and through shallow mud or water; probing deeply into the moist underlying substrate for prey at intervals. [5] [17] It is relatively flexible in microhabitat use, foraging either on open ground or in short grass. [17] Several individuals have been observed with dried mud along the length of their bills. [9] Its foraging highly resembles that of the glossy ibis and buffnecked ibis. [17] Despite the largely overlapping niches, the sharp-tailed ibis may be more active during the morning than other sympatric ibises; hence suggesting temporal niche partitioning. [14] There may also be differences between these sympatric ibis species in specific dry-season probing depths and microhabitat use within the large-scale savannas. [9]
The sharp-tailed ibis feeds primarily on medium-sized insects, [17] especially in the dry season. [14] It also occasionally feeds on amphibians, crustaceans, earthworms and snails. [18] Its tendency to forage in pairs or small groups may be partly attributable to the relatively dispersed distribution of its insect prey in the llanos. [15]
This ibis probably migrates locally during the wet season to higher altitude feeding grounds which may serve as a refuge from the extensive flooding of the lowland grassland. [17] Its persistence as a primarily terrestrial forager in its semi-aquatic habitat suggests that its relatively dry higher-altitude feeding grounds which remain unflooded in the wet season are sufficiently extensive, or that the dry season is sufficiently long to ensure high annual prey availability in the lowlands. [17]
Unusually for a wading bird of the llanos, this ibis breeds in the dry season months from August until February; [11] [15] whereas the majority of llanos avifauna breeds in the wet season around May to October. [15] The sharp-tailed ibis breeds solitarily in gallery forests, where egg-laying is believed to occur from August to September; and fledged offspring remain with their parents until late February. [11] Average egg measurements have been reported as 65.9 x 44mm and the average egg weight as 70g. [19] In a six-year wading bird survey of Masaguaral in the llanos, the sharp-tailed ibis was never seen on the lowland grasslands during the dry-season months of August and December. [13] In one other study, it was not sighted in the months of December and January. [11] Its secretive nesting behaviours probably explains its apparent absence from the open llanos grasslands during the breeding season.
Details of courtship in this species are largely unknown. [5] However, preening behaviours between mates have been observed in which one individual nibbles with its bill at the base of the other's bill; [9] which could potentially be part of courtship. [5] Additionally, larger individuals have been observed to preen smaller individuals assumed to be their offspring, which also sometimes gently peck with their bills at the larger individuals in return. [14]
One natural enemy of this ibis may be the black-collared hawk Busarellus nigricollis, one individual of which was once seen pursuing a sharp-tailed ibis over a flooded marsh. Further, the ibis flew with a rapid twisting flight which was unusual considering its normally torpid wing beating. [9]
This ibis has thus far not been kept in captivity in zoological institutions; [20] [21] nor has it ever been reported to have been imported to countries outside its range in South America. [22]
Despite this ibis's infrequent occurrence in its savannah habitat, the population appears to have remained stable since the early 20th century; [23] There have been no trade records of this species, and the global population is not considered to be threatened generally. [18] [23] The world population has been estimated at 10,000–25,000 individuals, [12] [23] with 6700-17000 of these being mature. [12] The sharp-tailed ibis has been evaluated by the IUCN as Least Concern since 2004 because this bird does not approach Vulnerable under the population trend and range size criteria. [12] Nevertheless, this species could potentially decline unnoticed due to its solitary lifestyle and hence the potential difficulty in detecting individuals during population monitoring. [5] Further information on its basic biology and ecology is required to safeguard it against appreciable future population declines. [5]
The ibis are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word for this group of birds. It also occurs in the scientific name of the western cattle egret mistakenly identified in 1757 as being the sacred ibis.
Spoonbills are a genus, Platalea, of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name Platalea derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill. Six species are recognised, which although usually placed in a single genus have sometimes been split into three genera.
The family Threskiornithidae includes 36 species of large wading birds. The family has been traditionally classified into two subfamilies, the ibises and the spoonbills; however recent genetic studies have cast doubt on this arrangement, and have found the spoonbills to be nested within the Old World ibises, and the New World ibises as an early offshoot.
The American white ibis is a species of bird in the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is found from Virginia via the Gulf Coast of the United States south through most of the coastal New World tropics. This particular ibis is a medium-sized bird with an overall white plumage, bright red-orange down-curved bill and long legs, and black wing tips that are usually only visible in flight. Males are larger and have longer bills than females. The breeding range runs along the Gulf and Atlantic Coast, and the coasts of Mexico and Central America. Outside the breeding period, the range extends further inland in North America and also includes the Caribbean. It is also found along the northwestern South American coastline in Colombia and Venezuela. Populations in central Venezuela overlap and interbreed with the scarlet ibis. The two have been classified by some authorities as a single species.
The scarlet ibis, sometimes called red ibis, is a species of ibis in the bird family Threskiornithidae. It inhabits tropical South America and part of the Caribbean. In form, it resembles most of the other twenty-seven extant species of ibis, but its remarkably brilliant scarlet coloration makes it unmistakable. It is one of the two national birds of Trinidad and Tobago, and its Tupi–Guarani name, guará, is part of the name of several municipalities along the coast of Brazil.
The limpkin, also called carrao, courlan, and crying bird, is a large wading bird related to rails and cranes, and the only extant species in the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the Americas, from Florida to northern Argentina, but has been spotted as far north as Wisconsin and Southern Ontario. It feeds on molluscs, with the diet dominated by apple snails of the genus Pomacea. Its name derives from its seeming limp when it walks.
The black-headed ibis, also known as the Oriental white ibis, Indian white ibis, and black-necked ibis, is a species of wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae which breeds in the South and Southeast Asia from India to the west and as far east as Japan. It is the only native ibis species in its range that has an overall white plumage with a black neck and head. The down-curved beak and legs are also black. Though often referred to as a wetland species, the black-headed ibis forages in a range of natural and man-made habitats. This species of ibis nests only during the rainy season.
The roseate spoonbill is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in both South and North America. The roseate spoonbill's pink color is diet-derived, consisting of the carotenoid pigment canthaxanthin, like the American flamingo.
The white-shouldered ibis is a large species of bird in the family Threskiornithidae. It is native to small regions of Southeast Asia, and is considered to be one of the most threatened bird species on this part of the continent.
The giant ibis is a wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is confined to northern Cambodia, with a few birds surviving in extreme southern Laos and a recent sighting in Yok Đôn National Park, Vietnam. It is sometimes placed in the genus Thaumatibis.
The Llanos is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome.
The yellow-billed spoonbill is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is native to Australia, and is a vagrant to New Zealand, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island.
The milky stork is a stork species found predominantly in coastal mangroves around parts of Southeast Asia. It is native to parts of Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. They were once part of the genus Ibis, but is currently included in the genus Mycteria, due to similarities with other storks in that genus.
The green ibis, also known as the Cayenne ibis, is a wading bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae. It is the only member of the genus Mesembrinibis.
The southern bald ibis is a large bird found in open grassland or semi-desert in the mountains of southern Africa. Taxonomically, it is most closely related to its counterpart in the northern regions of Africa, the waldrapp. As a species, it has a very restricted homerange, limited to the southern tips of South Africa in highland and mountainous regions.
The straw-necked ibis is a bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. It can be found throughout Australia, New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia. Adults have distinctive straw-like feathers on their necks.
The capped heron is a water bird endemic to the neotropics, inhabiting rainforest from the center of Panama to the south of Brazil. It is the only species of the genus Pilherodius, and one of the least known of the heron family, Ardeidae. It is superficially similar to the group of the night herons, but is active during daytime or at twilight.
The maguari stork is a large species of stork that inhabits seasonal wetlands over much of South America, and is very similar in appearance to the white stork; albeit slightly larger. It is the only species of its genus to occur in the New World and is one of the only three New World stork species, together with the wood stork and the jabiru.
The wattled ibis is a species of bird in the family Threskiornithidae. It is endemic to the Ethiopian highlands and is found only in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The plumbeous ibis, also formerly called the blue ibis, is a large distinctive ibis species endemic to parts of central South America.
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